


Hello Mr Make-Believe

by small_town_girl



Category: Glee
Genre: College, Family, Gen, Homelessness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-25
Updated: 2011-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-20 17:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/small_town_girl/pseuds/small_town_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Glee Angst Meme: Carole always had a feeling that one day she would be hearing the words 'Mom, I joined the army'. She just always thought it would be Finn telling her that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello Mr Make-Believe

Carole had never been more proud, or more relieved, when Finn announced he’d received an acceptance letter from a college in New York City. He was going with Rachel and Kurt, who’d both been accepted into two different theatre schools, and Blaine, who was going to NYU. She knew Finn had applied to colleges closer to home, she’d helped him with his applications, but she couldn’t see him being happy at any of those schools, not when Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine were all together in New York.

Her biggest fear was that Finn would one day come home telling her that he’d joined the army or the marines. He always had a connection to Christopher, one that she wished she could forget and one that Finn never realized. Christopher had been a bit lost in high school, someone she’d actually try to avoid because he could be unpredictable. One day he’d be helping a Freshman pick up her books that she’d dropped and the next day he’d laughing as his friends shoved a different Freshman so he dropped his books. She knew Finn struggled with the same issue, wanting to do the right thing but scared of his friends’ reactions, friends that wouldn’t hesitate to beat up anyone would stood up against them. She’d had to throw out Finn’s clothes after the football team had cornered him with paintball guns just for joining a Glee club.

Finn was a good kid. Christopher had been a good man. He’d learned that having a few good friends who had his back was more important than having a lot of who only liked him when he was on their side. Finn was figuring that out more quickly than his father had, which Carole gave credit to the Glee club and the school’s new football coach. Finn’s grades had improved, there had been scouts at football games, and even some talent scouts at Glee competitions. Her son was so determined to get out of Lima and he had worked hard in order to do so, but until that college acceptance letter came she still worried. She had seen the army brochure mixed in with the rest of the college ones the kids had brought home after career day.

But he was going to college, he’d be with Kurt, and they would be fine.

*****

“Carole, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course Sweetie,” she smiled. She’d been in the middle of cutting chicken for a stir-fry but it could wait. “Did you need something?”

“It’s just…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” her child, and yes she considering this kid her child. Finn would always be her only biological child but this kid in front of her, she considered hers since their family became official. “I know I’m supposed to be going to school in September and I said I knew what I wanted to do, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

Carole’s mind flashed to the army brochure she’d seen a few months ago. Maybe it hadn’t belonged to Finn. The kids had just thrown them all in the same pile so it was possible it hadn’t been Finn who’d talked to the army recruiter.

“I don’t want to spend all that money going to school if I could end up dropping out halfway through the year because I’m not happy. I know the others might be mad because we already have plans for the apartment and they’ll have to pay more if they can’t find someone else, but I don’t want to go to college just because all my friends are. That seems like a silly reason.”

“It is,” Carole had to admit. “If you don’t want to be there then you probably won’t go to your classes. If you’re not sure what you want to do, we won’t force you to go to college. You could work for the summer, save some money, and travel if you wanted.”

“I already have a plan.”

Carole was afraid of that.

The stories that Kurt or Finn would tell her about Santana Lopez had always rubbed her the wrong way. Some of the things they’d told her the girl had done, Carole couldn’t believe someone could be that horrible, especially a child. Did her parents have no idea what their child was doing? She knew there were things Finn had done that slipped passed her but she knew most of it and she’d punished him.

That all changed the night Kurt woke her and Burt at three in the morning to inform them that Santana needed a place to stay for the night. She’d been picked up when the cops crashed a party and she’d lost her temper, resisted arrest, but because of her father they weren’t charging her. That had been the last stray, though, for her parents and they’d told her she was no longer welcome in their home. They thought she was a bad influence on their younger children so instead of trying to help their troubled daughter, they were choosing to remove the influence from their home.

They hadn’t even hesitated. All it took was one look at each other and Burt was out of bed, pulling on a pair of jeans while she found her robe. Burt had gone with Kurt to pick up Santana, and hopefully talk her parents into reconsidering or at least letting their daughter pack her things, and she’d gone to wake Finn. They didn’t have a spare room and from what she’d been told about the girl, Santana was very proud so giving her some privacy for the night seemed like a good idea. If the poor girl wanted to talk, they would be there for her, but if she wanted to lock herself in Finn’s room for the night, Carole wanted her to have that option. The girl needed to feel safe, that was the most important thing.

Finn had been surprisingly calm about giving up his room for the night. He’d offered to sleep on the couch but some time during the night had ended up on Kurt’s floor. Carole had changed the bed sheets before Burt and Kurt came home with Santana and she’d done a quick clean up of Finn’s room, not that it had been too messy because he’d just cleaned it the day before.

When Santana had walked through the door, head high and pretending her red eyes weren’t from crying, Carole had wanted to wrap her arms around the girl. She didn’t, she could tell the girl wasn’t ready to be touched, so instead she led her upstairs to Finn’s room. Santana had thanked them quietly then closed the door.

Burt hadn’t been able to convince her parents to reconsider, or even talk to her again. Slowly more of her things were unpacked and more of Finn’s things found their way to Kurt’s room until finally they’d bought a second bed and Finn was moved into Kurt’s room permanently. It was a tight fit but neither boy complained.

“Do you want to wait until Burt gets home?” she asked. Burt was at the garage with Kurt and Finn, attempting to teach Finn how to rotate tires and not hang up on customers when he answers the phone.

“No,” Santana’s voice was soft but she kept her head high, as always. It told Carole that the girl was sure about her decision. “I wanted to talk to you alone first. I didn’t want just hit you with it in case you‘re not happy with me.”

“Sweetie, I’d support you no matter what,” she reached out to take Santana’s hand. This girl, no young woman, didn’t show her vulnerable side easily and the last thing she wanted was for Santana to think she would lose her respect by making a decision about her future.

“Mom, I joined the army.”

Carole froze at her first word. Santana had told both her and Burt that she’d come to see them as more her parents than her biological parents, but never had she referred to them that way. Then the rest of her sentence sank in.

“Okay,” she said softly. She’d seen it coming but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. “I’m guessing you’ve given this a lot of thought?”

“Yes,” Santana confirmed. “I know it seems out of nowhere because I was planning on going to Ohio State but I’ve actually been talking to the recruiter that was at career day. The more we talked, the more this seems like the right decision. I want to stop being so angry and feeling like I’m going to snap at you or Burt or Finn or Kurt if you get in my way. I want to be someone my sisters can look up to even if my parents still won’t talk to me. It’s the right thing for me.”

“Okay,” Carole said again as she wrapped her arms around the girl. “I’m proud of you.”

They stay in their hug for a few seconds, longer than Santana had hugged anyone in their family, before Santana pulls back.

“Finn and Kurt are going to freak, aren’t they?”


End file.
